The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1887-06-25

| coSts, tue papers VIII na'o IL. Ahoy w.
this country with thoroughness that al
lows no guilty item to escape. They have
sent expeditions to the Arctic regions and
to the Equator, to Siberia and to Africa
to the region of the Eskimo and to the
warm trail of the murderous Apache
They have explored subterranean caverns
investigated ocean wrecks in diving suits
and this very week newspaper enterprise
in the shape of balloon will go hunting
for sensation above the clouds.
A few days ago I went carefully over
one of our leading newspapers. 1t con-
tanned, exclusive of all advertising, TIA
different items on almost ever subject imag-
Unable. Adding the distances that the diff
ferent dispatches had travelled, the result
was a total of over 200, 900 miles. What
work all this entailed in the short space OF
dozen hours will have to be left to the
imagination. And, yet, it is but a daily
incident of journalism.
At the close of the Revolution there
were in this country forty-three papers,
whose aggregate circulation was very low
in the thousands. Now there are 10000
newspaper publications, which print and
distribute every year 3, 900, 900, 900 copies,
or over two copies for every man, woman
and child in the world.
IF you want to carry out the figures, you
will find that the newspapers Of this coun-
try print every year the rather comfortable
total of nearly 200,000,000,000 words Of
matter. If one person were to read twelve
hours day, he would be good many
thousand years old before he got through
this mass. fMr. Rider Haggard's "She, u
the wonderful woman who waited two
thousand years for a young man without
becoming an old maid, had set out to read
as many newspapers as are published In
this country in twelve months, she would
not have been half way through her task
when the young man arrived, and, proba-
bly,, not that far, as she might have ad-
vertised for him, with the usual result.
From presses that made 200 impressions
an hour, less than a century ago, we have
wonderful pieces of mechanism that from a
continuous roll of paper cut, print and fold
10000 complete copies of newspaper
every sixty minutes. Presses are now be-
ing built that will run a mile minute, and
the day is not far distant v hen We will haye
machines that will run that mile and turn
out 1000 newspapers in less than sixty
seconds.
Contrast the newspaper past with the
newspaper present; compare its yesterday
and its to-day; place its performances along
side the greatest feats of invention and pro-
gress, and we have result that is romance
Of enterprise, and achievement of human
effort beyond the rosicst dreams of our an
cestors.
THE HEROES OF JOURNALISM,
So much for the mechanical equipment
of this agency. Now, word about the
men who give their lives to the collection
of the intelligence that makes the blank
sheets newspapers. The genius of Journal
ism is the reporter-the man who impales
the vagrant fact on the pencil point, and
gives it the immortality oi' cold type. For
his services he is paid better, on an average,
thaa the mel of any other profession in
this country. He is-apd his york COM
pels him to be-honest, intel .igent, fearless
and with due respect to his critics, he is
one of the most reliable dealers in facts
that this waywaFd world has ever known.
Out of every five hundred statements he
makes, an average of only one is success
fully contradicted, and out Of every twenty
five libel suits brought to impeaeh his apcu-
racy, twenty-four are decided in his favor.
Why should he care for the cavils Of man
kind as long as the Recording Angel keeps
the run of such statistics?
But the point I wish to dwell upon is
the heroism that has frequently been shown
by men in search of news Not many
months ago the Oregon was sunk. Partieu-
lars were brought from the scene of disaster
by another steamer. Three reporters met
her In tug far out in the ocean, got on
board, secured full details from eyewitness
es, and started to leave The captain
dumbfounded them by declaring that no
one should leave the steamer until it ar
rived in New York. That meant delay.
1t meant defeat A consultation was held.
One of the three was just up from serious
illness. He was ruled out. The other
two drew straws. The one on whom the
CHOICE fell quietly passed his watch and
money to bis comrades and took their notes
and interviews. Night had come on. The
sea was rough. They called the tugboat
ostensibly to instruct it to proceed to New
York. When it came near the reporter, to
the horror of the passengers, leaped over
the steamers rail into the darkness. He
had a chance of success out of dozen
probabilities ofdeath. He took that chance
and won, bat the people who read the stirr-
ing account published FIVE hours later new
er dreamed of the bravery that made its
publication possible. Two years ago the
cholera was raging in the South of France.
Details were lacking. Public interest be-
came impatient Harold Frederick, an
American newspaper man, left his home
aad family, went all through the worst
districts, examined every hospital, talked
with the patients and cabled column
after column to his paper in New York.
and furpi-L~ J. R.--.SS. EUROPE, by way OF Al
OF the with the first accurate intelligence {
Ts are epidemic Several years ago G
Office yellow fever arrived off one Of the A
lie his seaports. No correct report being 9
Home able, reporter went on board th,
ed it. and interviewed the patient. Wher
ierful pie were flying from Charleston afte
clock earthquakes, the newspaper men wei